I have been reading a lot on Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg lately. I have a prime example of why people need to read and study up on issues as opposed to listening to sound bites and trusting only one source of information…

Ruth Bader Ginsburg is known as a liberal justice of the Supreme Court. “Liberal” is relative, of course, depending on who is currently sitting on the Supreme Court. She currently sits more left because the court itself has shifted right. She is also well-known as being a feminist and fighting for women’s equality as a lawyer taking on gender cases (many cases having to do with men getting fair treatment ironically enough in order to show how equality goes both ways and is necessary for all) throughout her lengthy career.

What people may not know is that Justice Ginsberg, in response to the case of Roe v. Wade, has spoken out albeit controversially many times about the ramifications of that case saying that the Supreme Court was a bit overreaching in its decision. Without going into the details on the decision of the case (I encourage you to read up on it), what ultimately happened as a result of the decision is that

opposition mounted, and instead of fighting in the trenches, state by state, to retain restrictive abortion laws, there was one clear target to aim at: the unelected justices of the Supreme Court. This is a decision that should be made, so the argument went, by the people’s elected representatives and not nine, at the time, old men.

It is of particular interest to note this distinction of RBG (aside from her noted limited government perspective here, traditionally a conservative stance) because she understands at a macro level how change is cemented in society, and that is through the gradually changing opinions of its electorate. Progress must be made on the ground with the people and not set by a minority few dictating the law of the land. Precedent is indeed important in court cases, but democracy is upheld by its constituency more than anything else. This speaks directly to the importance of advocacy, organizing, and mass participation in the electoral process.

Those who say people should stick to their own professions and not speak out (i.e. celebrities, workplaces, etc) are missing the point. We all move through society in our lives with the goal of trying to make our individual situations better, and we do this in all aspects of our lives. This is part of our common human endeavor. It can’t be stopped. Through our advocacy, giving, and voting practices, morals translate to laws. When we give in to the lie of leaving politics to politicians, we give away our power. We should always strive to elect smart, educated people into office, but we should also remember who they represent. The People are the ones who are supposed to be running the show. Supreme Court Justices, legislators, and the President have an important role to play in leading our country and making sure it is run smoothly, but it is at the behest of the people, not the other way around. They are but servants. It is our responsibility to get up-to-speed on issues so we understand how laws affect the mass constituency. Ruth Bader Ginsburg understands this, and that is what makes her a hero.

*quote taken from the chapter entitled “Roe” in Jeff Rosen’s book Conversations with RBG